air in my cones?

Made a nice cone about 6-8 inches. Filled it with henna. Henna came out smoothly and then after about ten minutes, it just refused to come out. I would pinch the tip in case it was clogged and something would come out but it was a struggle. Kept having to change cones and leaving half full cones.

The only two things I can think that caused this are:

1) Clogging from the henna. This batch of Twilight has not been very fine like past batches. However, I do perform the stocking sifting method so that should not be a problem.

2) Air in the cone causing the blockage, either from when I was filling it or from using the cone?

It is possible to have some clumps even after straining, especially if the stocking had runners! The air in your cone doesn't sound quite right to me though. If you had air bubbles there would be a sudden kinda airy splatter, then nothing, then back to business. I do have some different ideas though...

Is is possible that the layers of the cone are slipping so that the opening size shrinks or even gets completely blocked?

What kind of sugar are you using? Many people use honey or other sticky liquids for sugar. In my experience they tend to do exactly what you describe almost half the time, especially after freezing and thawing.

Is it possible that you've just made you cones with a smaller opening or that you've made your paste thicker than you have in the past?

I dont know about the layers. I have used triangles and rectangles and this seems to be a common problem with both for me.

I used dextrose powder, no liquids.

The cone opening remains the same and the initial output is always a beautiful smooth consistency until I get problems with the flow. The the texture, perhaps because of my pressuring it come out, looks thicker and I end up with bolder lines even if I dont want them.

What I mean about the layers slipping is when the outter layer keeps the same opening size because of tape on the outside seem. The inside layers shift closing the hole INSIDE but it appears open on the ouside. This can happen with both rectangle and triangle cones.

One other thing that could easily cause this problem: previously unnoticed lumps! Straining your paste with a stocking before you cone it can break up these lumps. Hitting your paste with a stick blender if you have one can fix it too. These are not large particles in your powder, but just little clumps that didn't get enough liquid. They are like thick plaster-llike spots in the paste that can easily clog a cone.